Overview Cube 360: a disposable camera to create VR-panoramas

Layfhaker tested action camera for shooting a panoramic 360-degree video Cube 360. What she copes very well, and that this baby already can not afford? Find out in our review.

Helmets and goggles virtual reality have become commonplace. Today, there are even Russian developments. But the mass distribution of these devices do not always lead to the appearance of the content. Shooting conventional video cameras with subsequent treatment - is a rather complicated process. Most of the specialized cameras are still quite expensive or are intended for use with certain control devices (eg, camera from LG and Samsung). This situation decided to wrap in their favor Chinese brands. Today we look at the most cheapest option - Cube 360.

Packaging and appearance

As the name suggests, Cube 360 ​​camera is similar to a small cube with a protruding lens hemisphere. The body is made of plastic.

The top of the control elements: Combined button on / off (highlighted in red diode when charging and when the on / off) control and Wi-Fi (highlighted in blue diode), as well as key account management video. To turn on or turn off the camera, you must hold down the button for 2 seconds.

On the side face hidden under a flap slot microSD, microUSB port for charging and the reset button.

On the bottom is the thread diameter of 0.25 inches for mounting the camera on a tripod or other devices.

On the front of the camera is an LED and microphone. The rear housing part has openings for sound and heat. Moisture is absent.

In the box, in addition to the camera, there are plenty of all sorts of attachments:

Specifications

The camera-based - own-chipset manufacturer Soocoo called GVT100M. The maximum amount of supported memory card - 32 GB. The camera does not alert the user if the card can not be read, so be careful.

Battery capacity - 1300 mAh, the charging current used is 5 V, 1.5 A. This, to the manufacturer, sufficient for 180 minutes of video recording in the autonomous mode (18 movies), and 1.5 hours when on the Wi-Fi. In fact, about 10 minutes should subtract. Cube 360 ​​is charged via the built-in port. Charging time is about one and a half hours. MicroUSB port is only for charging, dump files from a flash card or connect the camera will not work.

The camera records movies duration of 3, 5 or 10 minutes. Selection is possible only through the application, set the duration of 10 minutes by default (163 MB). They are recorded in TS format, packaged in a container H.264. The only available resolution - 1280 × 1024 (NTSC). Sound is recorded in the same file, the audio track format - AAC.

Remote control

In standalone mode, without the use of smartphones and Wi-Fi, the camera can only record video clips. Everything changes, if you set the GVT-360i application by scanning the bar code of instructions, or from app stores.

Then it is necessary to enable a wireless connection and to connect the camera to the phone or tablet (connection to the two devices). The communication range in line of sight -. About 10 m can be controlled via the app camera and its settings, exercise video, view the footage and take photographs (the latter is available only through attachment). Photos are stored on the host device, and video - on a flash drive.

The current picture (i.e., translation), and the shot material can be viewed in different modes.

Initially, the video is displayed in the form of a circle (fisheye). To view the broadcast is sufficient to select the desired view from the menu. View the video on a computer is performed or after the placing on the YouTube 360Or using a portable-applications Cube 360 ​​One Channel Local Viewer for Windows. In this application, you can also select a suitable display of video and convert it to MP4 format.

What is suitable Cube 360

If you want to create a panorama or VR-high-quality video, then, unfortunately, this device can not be recommended too low resolution. The camera will cope with such tasks as photo to social networking and small rollers. But there is another Soocoo Cube 360, at least a useful purpose - CCTV. panoramic shooting function allows you to mount the camera on the ceiling in the center of the room and get maximum coverage. At a cost of $ 60 - very good.

The manufacturer has already I posted on its website instructions on how to replace the matrix. Having the higher quality sensor, e.g. Xiaomi Yi, can significantly improve the quality of the recording (a new firmware also exists and supports a high resolution). So this set is a fun constructor.